Friday, June 24, 2011

2010 Korean Drama about a reckless girl running about life on a whim, not caring for much else besides her one-sided crush on a hardened attorney who works at the same insurance company she does -

Until her parents, who have adopted four, younger siblings and a toddler, die in a car accident, and suddenly our hapless and carefree Jin Pal kang (Choi Jung won) is faced with the unglamorous reality of an uncertain future.

She spent money she didn't have to buy designer things meant to capture the attention of the cold-hearted attorney; taking from her good friend (who also works at the insurance company) and even stealing from her younger sister in order to get her enviably long hair permed.

At the start of the show, a fat guy keeps chasing after her to collect some of that debt.

He was pretty funny, and I'm only sorry there isn't more info on the guy to give him some credit here.

Her boss (the Queen of Insurance Sales) wants her fired, and a prune-faced, rich bitch arrives to make things even more difficult for Pal kang.

Chae Young in as Jung Jae young

Anyway, the first episode had all the kids pooping and constipated, and the second episode showed our hunky attorney in the shower.

Naturally, I was under the impression that episode 3 would show us some chick puking up ramen alongside her sympathetic boyfriend in front of a bar.

This is a typical, stereotypical Korean story about poor, forlorn chick forced to face reality, grow up, and attain that eternally sought-after prize of Prince Charming for a hubby.

She is kicked out of her parent's house because, well, that's just the way it goes in heartless Korea - and as luck would (always) have it, her Team Leader (Shin Dong wook as Won Joon ha) is looking for a live-in housekeeper.

He is the younger, half-brother of the hardened attorney (Kim Ji hoon as Won Kang ha), and they're both fed up with the childish antics of their 'from America' cousin, Lee Kyun as Woo Tae gyu after the neighbors call the cops on him for lighting off fireworks in the exclusive and uppity subdivision.

He's supposed to be in college, but I never saw him leave the fancy house once, except to hang out at a local club with his musician friends.

Anyway, their initial intent is to kick out the cousin and have the housekeeper take his place, but the flighty cousin refuses to leave, much less get the message, and then he falls instantly and madly in love with our down-n-out Agasshi Pal gang.

She sneaks the kids inside the house, and the attorney isn't happy to see Ms. Go Nowhere outside the office while her loyal friends hope and pray that things will turn out alright for their down-n-out friend, Pal gang.

This wasn't tragic, but it did have its moments when I was forced to shed a tear or three, or at least get choked up and need some water to soothe my aching throat, but a majority of the time it was campy goodness with a few ha-ha's tossed in for effect.

All, three Won boys end up falling for Pal kang, but she's a changed woman now and insists all that matters is taking care of the kids.

Rich bitch who is the granddaughter of the halabeoji who has always walked in on the Jin clan to eat a free meal and annoy Pal kang while also delighting the little ones with his grandfatherly ways, is determined to marry the attorney with ice in his veins.

NATURALLY ~ she sets out obtaining this goal by first 'telling' him they'll get married, then forcing him to believe that it's only natural since they're both rich, and finally, by threatening him with a secret he's kept hidden for years.

In-between all this Korean nonsense, she continues to put down, irritate, and harass Kal pang because ... well, because the poor, ugly chick is in the rich bitches way, I suppose.

After all, these years, you'd think I'd finally be able to discover the secret behind this mentality, and yet it still escapes me.

Joon ha has always been in love with the rich chick, but like all the other, hot babes in their life, she, too, only has eyes for Mr. Heartless.

He's a playa, but not by much.

The nice guy who always finishes last - or is he?

I thought the funniest thing about him was his height in comparison to everyone else on the set!

Boy towered over even his Hyung, for heaven's sake.

Dong wook-sshi is the reason I watched this to begin with, but as things progressed (and, this occurs often with Korean dramas), I began to form a new-found appreciation for and interest in his older brother, Kang ha.

This is a first for me with regards to ajusshi Kim, and I was impressed!

Once the siblings were discovered by the Won boys, the story became more interesting, and the fun started.

The little boy they referred to as 'the dark one', who walked in his sleep, peed his pants, and caused a lot of problems for everyone nearly stole the show, but it was his unexpected relationship with hard-ass Kang ha that helped to draw me closer to the guy and nothing more.

The only thing I 'didn't' like was his hair style - I kept wanting to comb it DOWN, making bangs or at least a lower side sweep.

Like most ALL Korean actors, he had a slammin' bod to go with his interesting gaze, and his acting wasn't all, that bad, either.

Shockingly, the guy who disappointed and didn't come across as the sexually enticing god he did in SoulMate Season 1 was Dong wook-sshi.

It's my fault, though, cause I just, don't like it when these hunks capture my fancy with their long hair, causal attitudes, and natural sex-appeal, then suddenly they're a year older and now serious-minded, stuff-shirt adults with short hair and a wardrobe that consists of gray suits and shiny ties.

"I WANT MY BABY BACK!"

Still love that sexy voice, though - and his adorable smile - his eyes, and that bod.

SOMEone over there with a lot of power is filling the heads of these gods with a lot of bull crap about being responsible or something ... but, it's just something else about Korea that I'll never understand, I suppose.

Anyway ... I think the moral of THIS fairy tale gone stale but still making the rounds is that if you become a mature, responsible adult and always stick to your guns about doing the right thing, then good stuff will happen --- like, the grandfather you thought was nothing more than a useless bum turns out to be a billionaire and YOUR real hal-abeoji!

Prince Charming (even if he IS a dick at the start) will fall madly in love with you, but because of your new resolve, it'll be YOU who are in the driver's seat and not him.

And, of course, you can best believe the nasty hag who tried to put you down all this time will DEFINITELY meet with her cruel fate so that you can laugh in her ugly face or say 'aw, poor baby!' and take pity on her with your new-found wealth and over-abundance of unnatural graces.

If good guys finish last, then it stands to reason that good girls will finish first.

EH?

I also learned that getting scolded all the time means you'll live a long, long life, and that picky eaters will never prosper.

Go figure - I've lived all this time never knowing WHY my life is this way, and now I know.

LOL

Seriously, though, this story touched a nerve in that I was (and likely still am) a lot like our Pal kang when I was growing up.

I didn't come from a loving family, though, and I never met a wealthy, couple of hunks who helped to steer me in the right direction, either.

Lot's of bad things happened to wake me up from my fantasy life, but my direction always took me down dead-end roads and not the golden path of prosperity like it always tends to do in these KDoramaz.